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a good example for a stupid limitation and the enprmous waste of brian power just for a very simple thing. Have to start studying and doing real research for th

a good example for a stupid limitation and the enprmous waste of brian power just for a very simple thing. Have to start studying and doing real research for the most simple features. Waste!

mbrock 10y ago
So fix it permanently or stop complaining?
robenkleene 10y ago
Ideally, Vim is a tool you'll be able to use for the rest of your life, so an upfront cost in learning it is a cost that becomes small when measured against the time scale of your career. Furthermore, Vim needs to be setup and is configurable because it existed before many computer usage patterns had been standardized that we take for granted now (e.g., Vim's cut and paste system is different than any current big name operating systems). But the very fact that Vim pre-dates these paradigms, and continues to be used despite the extra work it requires to get past that, this very fact is what makes it more likely that you'll be able to continue using it indefinitely. I.e., Vim will survive the next paradigm shift, because it survived the last one. If you really want to be careful about investing in learning a tool, the ones you should be careful about are the ones that have not survived a paradigm shift yet. (Photoshop is great example of a dangerous skill investment in my opinion, Photoshop takes an extraordinary amount of muscle memory to use effectively and it hasn't yet survived a paradigm shift. Those skills look poised to become completely obselete by touch-based design tools soon, 5-10 years from now. Not saying I have an better idea, because Photoshop is still probably the best tool for doing that type of work, but just plan on throwing everything you learn away.)
- jqm 10y ago
  Agreed. Vim is one of the best investments in learning I've made to date.
- mturmon 10y ago
  Very true. I hand-compiled and memorized my own vi cheat sheet decades ago, and it has paid off very well. It's systematic, as many tutorials point out, which helps a lot.

a good example for a stupid limitation and the enprmous waste of brian power just for a very simple thing. Have to start studying and doing real research for the most simple features. Waste!

mbrock 10y ago

So fix it permanently or stop complaining?

robenkleene 10y ago

Ideally, Vim is a tool you'll be able to use for the rest of your life, so an upfront cost in learning it is a cost that becomes small when measured against the time scale of your career. Furthermore, Vim needs to be setup and is configurable because it existed before many computer usage patterns had been standardized that we take for granted now (e.g., Vim's cut and paste system is different than any current big name operating systems). But the very fact that Vim pre-dates these paradigms, and continues to be used despite the extra work it requires to get past that, this very fact is what makes it more likely that you'll be able to continue using it indefinitely. I.e., Vim will survive the next paradigm shift, because it survived the last one. If you really want to be careful about investing in learning a tool, the ones you should be careful about are the ones that have not survived a paradigm shift yet. (Photoshop is great example of a dangerous skill investment in my opinion, Photoshop takes an extraordinary amount of muscle memory to use effectively and it hasn't yet survived a paradigm shift. Those skills look poised to become completely obselete by touch-based design tools soon, 5-10 years from now. Not saying I have an better idea, because Photoshop is still probably the best tool for doing that type of work, but just plan on throwing everything you learn away.)

jqm 10y ago
Agreed. Vim is one of the best investments in learning I've made to date.
mturmon 10y ago
Very true. I hand-compiled and memorized my own vi cheat sheet decades ago, and it has paid off very well. It's systematic, as many tutorials point out, which helps a lot.